Injured at nursery

[Shelsmith]

Hi everyone my 4yo sons hand was burnt in an accident at nursery. They warmed the food in the microwave and didn't check the temperature (they have admitted this in a meeting I had with the owner) so as they were serving it some was spilt on his hand and it was quite badly burnt.
I am aware accidents happen but my main concern is that he didn't get proper first aid. I recieved a phone call when it happened to say it had happened but he was fine 'he doesn't need to go to a+e or anything' but when I picked him up it was clearly a painful and serious burn. I took him to hospital and they told me he should have been brought in straight away and he was at risk of infection. This ended up with us being referred to a specialist burns unit and an overnight stay. Not to mention travelling 40 minutes each way to get his dressings changed every day for two weeks, where I also had to take that time off university (I'm a trainee teacher) as we were advised he could not go back to nursery by the hospital because it could get infected.
I have been told it will take upto two years to heal and it will scar.
My question is AIBU to make a personal injury claim on my sons behalf? (I have spoken to a solicitor and they think I have a strong chance of winning a case)
But I just wonder if I'm over reacting?

[Afreshstartplease]

Yanbu

Think you need to request a meeting with the nursery too, do they know how bad it is now? They will have to report this to ofsted

[Shelsmith]

Coconutty - they have said they will review their policy as they feel they acted in accordance with their first aid training.

[CodyKing]

No - you are suing the nurseries insurance company not the nursery itself - it's why they pay insurance premiums -

The company will risl assess the setting and advise different methods to avoid further injuries
.
As a child you are unlikely to go to court and will be offered a payout based on photos and doctors notes and your written statement (ie if he's not slept nightmares use of hand things he hasn't been able to do)

You have nothing to lose and the nursery won't suffer for it

[NeedACleverNN]

I would certainly take a claim

What if they had spoon fed a baby?!

Your poor ds. I hope he is ok

[Shelsmith]

Afreshstartplease - yes I have had a meeting with the owner who basically fobbed me off saying unfortunately it was poor risk assessment and we will take action to make sure it doesn't happen again - but being very evasive about what exactly this action is even though I have asked numerous times. I am due to meet with her again next week as he has gone back in this week (against my better judgement but had no alternative as he is due to leave in two weeks as he starts school in September)

[PolaroidsFromTheBeyond]

I would report the nursery to Ofsted. This is appalling. The response from the nursery is very worrying too. Have you withdraw your son from the setting?

I actually don't think you would be unreasonable to make a claim. Your DC was injured as a result of their negligence - it would not be a spurious claim at all.

[Shelsmith]

Needaclevernn - this is what I said! I'm just glad she spilt it on him before he had chance to eat it!

[PotteringAlong]

To create food that hot to cause those injuries it seems to have been far more than just a casual bit of heating up in the microwave.

[NeedACleverNN]

The fact they are fobbing you off slightly worries me

It means they are not taking it as seriously as they should

They should have seeked medical care immediately, they should have checked the food in the first place! And just reviewing their health and safety techniques is not enough

I would sue them in the hope it bucks their ideas up and then prehaps seek a different nursery

[ExtraHotLatteToGo]

I wouldn't claim, no. I really hate the 'claim culture' that is growing here. I'd only, maybe, consider it if it was something like the awful case of the girls losing their legs at the theme park - something that will have a serious impact on their lives going forward.

However, I'd want to know what policies had been put in place or training given to ensure this didn't happen to any other children. My main issue would not be the hot food, we all make mistakes, even people looking after children (of course I'd want to know they'd taken steps the minimise the risk of it happening again), my issue would be them not knowing that he needed to go to A&E the guidelines for burns to children are pretty clear - or worse still them knowing but trying to hide it.

I'd probably change nursery, not because of the burn, but because of the lack of knowledge/care afterwards. The only thing that would stop me would be if it was great in every other way & there wasn't a better option locally. Also, it's probably fair to say their policies/training re H&S will be looked into now.

[CodyKing]

However, I'd want to know what policies had been put in place or training given to ensure this didn't happen to any other children

This is the insurance companies job - they being the experts and can enforce the train and changes or they invalidate their cover.

Not done to a patent to discuss and wouldn't actually know if anything has changed

[ExtraHotLatteToGo]

I cross posted with your other posts.

Ok. Gloves off. They're minimising. Put in a claim, call ofsted and kick up an almighty fuss.

They should be devastated at what has happened, not brushing it under the carpet.

I'm glad he's out of there in a fortnight, though if it was me I'd find alternative care rather than take him back.

[insancerre]

That's very negligent of the nursery
They shouldn't be heating food in a microwave
They shouldn't serve food without testing the temperature with a probe and recording it
They shouldn't be serving hot food near children
They should have asked you to collect and take him to hospital

I would advise you to make a written complaint to the misery and repeat them to ofsted and environmental health
Then sue them
And I say that as a nursery manager myself

[rumblingDMexploitingbstds]

Poor little boy! I've worked in nurseries and I'm usually pretty calm about accidents happen, but that's not an accident, it's inexcusable carelessness for people used to being around and feeding young children and its resulted in a serious injury. Not to mention poor first aid and not getting him seen by A&E. Ofsted and your Local Authority Early Years team will want to hear about this - you can find the Early Years team by ringing through your Local Authority front desk. Please don't feel guilty about reporting, any good nursery would be horrified this happened, would hold their hands up about this and work with everyone concerned to get this huge issue sorted, and not try to minimise it.

Burns are so horrible for anyone to go through never mind so little a one, my sister pulled a thermos over herself aged 2 and burned a huge patch of skin off her chest and we went through all this, you have my every sympathy. If it helps to know, she healed very well, to the point where you have to look very closely to see any scar, and the burn was a big one. Really hope your little boy is more comfortable soon.

[RaeSkywalker]

I generally give short shrift to the "where there's blame, there's a claim" culture, but in your case I absoloutely would. The repeated hospital visits that your son has had/ will need are going to cost you a not insignificant sum. Even if you just claim enough to cover a few years of parking or public transport fees, plus any time off work that you might need when your studies complete, I'm sure it would be a massive help.

[GrimmauldPlace]

YANBU. That's awful. Question for anyone who knows of the legalities, would sending DC back there affect the claim? I, personally, would have removed my DC straight away especially as it's only 2 weeks but I understand how difficult alternative childcare can be to find.

What first aid did they actually do?

[RaeSkywalker]

I wonder if they're fobbing you off because they've been advices to give as little information as possible incase you decide to sue.

My poor Mum had something very similar- botched surgery in an NHS hospital which they then attempted to correct twice. We went to a meeting with the surgeon to review what happened and why, but he was really cagey and essentially gave us zero information. We realised afterwards that he was probably concerned about us suing. My Mum had no intention of doing this, she just wanted to know why things happened the way they did.

[RaeSkywalker]

^ "advice", not "advices"

[Booboostwo]

I opened this thread fully expecting a PFB parent worrying about a grazed knee but this is just awful. The nursery were negligent to heat up the food to the point where it caused burns, negligent not to test the food before giving it out to children and then even more negligent in not rushing him to hospital. I would take this as far as I could both with OFSTED, LA and the law.

[Shelsmith]

Thank you to everyone for your advice it's been really helpful! x

[jannier]

All childcare settings must notify Ofsted if a child has been injured and as a result has been given hospital treatment so I would check this has been done as Ofsted should come in and check procedures and risk assessments.

You don't have to rush into claiming, a child can bring a claim up to the age of 21, and you will want to see if there is any long term scar, take advice on what would happen if you settled and the recovery was not as good as planned (hopefully this is not the case, but you never know).

Accidents do happen but this is very nasty and all burns in the under 5 always need hospital attention to be on the safe side. my son is 24 and has a scar on his leg from a jug of warm water tipped onto him when he was 2, it never blistered and didn't need any painkiller but it left its mark.